Hikaru no Duel Monsters
by Enmy
Summary: Two boys, each hiding their own little secret; two ghosts each happy to find something new and a frustrated rival, unhappy with the sudden changes in his life. RERWITTEN
1. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! and Hikaru no Go though I wish I did

**Summary:** Two boys, each hiding their own little secret; two ghosts each happy to find something new and a frustrated rival, unhappy with the sudden changes in his life. RERWITTEN

_After receiving your reviews I decided to modify the story a little. Maybe I did hurry a little in telling Hikaru's and Yuugi's secrets so now Yuugi doesn't know about Sai and the other way around. _

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"3-16" started the dark haired boy with bleached bangs.

"16-16" responded the other one with spiky brown hair.

"16-4" continued the bleached boy as their three member group stepped out of the Go Institute and made their way to the nearest train station.

"17-5" said quickly the other one.

"That's exactly how you started our game the other day Waya, and I won. You might try something else" pointed out the bleached boy.

"Yeah I know but I thought about it last night and I built a strategy that will work. Trust me." said the one with spiky hair.

"All right, if you say so…17-3"

"Hey Shindou, how come you're not going to see that Touya bastard today?" asked the boy named Waya.

These oral go games were something very common between these two pro go players who also happened to be very close friends. It seemed that Waya Yoshitaka was constantly trying to prove himself that he was a better go player than his younger friend Shindou Hikaru and he challenged Hikaru every time he had a chance. The time they needed to get from the Go Institute to the train station was no exception. They only needed their feet to get to the station not their brains too so Waya decided to put their brains at work saying that it was a good practice.

Their other friend, Isumi Shinichiro, the oldest of them, preferred to concentrate on the activity at hand, meaning walking, since someone actually had to make sure that they didn't bump into someone by accident or worse, cross the street on the red light or get on the wrong train.

"I saw him yesterday and I think I had enough of him for this week" the bleached boy answered.

"You two fought again huh?" It wasn't really a question, more like a statement. They all knew how fired up were the games between the two rivals.

They would always meet at Touya's go salon, play a game and then Hikaru would storm out soon after they would start discussing the game. Actually it was more like shouting and busting their lungs out at each other for almost every move they made during the game, since almost every move their rival made seemed to be a reckless one and not the best choice at the time.

And yet they were still rivals and Shindou would still go to Touya's salon and they would still take it all from the beginning over and over again.

"I mean can you believe him?" started Hikaru all fired up "he actually said that he met amateurs who were playing better that me and that he should start looking for a worthy rival in his father's go salon."

"That bastard, I told you that you should stop spending time with him, it's not worth it. He thinks so high of himself just because he's the Meijin's son" started Waya with anger in his voice "that spoiled little brat" then mumbled clenching his fists.

"He is a good player, the best among the lower dans. You should give him credit for that" spoke Isumi for the first time since they left the Institute.

"That doesn't mean he can be so cocky about it" shouted Waya as if he was the one insulted by the Meijin's son, not his friend.

"Hey guys, look over there" Hikaru seemed to have forgotten about his anger and was pointing his finger toward a boy about Waya's age coming from the opposite direction. "Look at his funny hair" he chuckled.

The other two turned to look in the direction pointed by their friend and the site of the boy with three colored spiky hair seemed to make Waya lighten up a bit.

"Look who's talking" he mumbled referring to Hikaru's bleached bangs.

"Hey, my hair is not that weird" Hikaru defended himself.

"Right…" teased Waya.

"He looks lost" Isumi pointed out. The boy seemed indeed to be both lost or looking for something since he was looking right and left at the buildings instead of where he was going.

"Maybe he's not from around here" Waya gave a guess "Let's find what he's looking for then, shall we?"

"Wait Waya, what do you want to do?" asked Isumi a little concerned but it was too late. Waya went up ahead and bumped into the boy who wasn't watching his step, knocking him down.

"I'm sorry" started the boy "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No, no! _I_'m sorry" said Waya sheepishly gesturing the 'no' with both hands "I wasn't looking and I knocked you down" then he got up from the ground and gave a hand to the other boy helping him up. "I'm really sorry."

By now Hikaru and Isumi were just a step behind their friend and were watching the entire scene wandering what their friend was up to. When Waya Yoshitaka made up his mind about something there was no turning back and no one, not even his friends could make him change his mind. Why couldn't he mind his own business and leave the boy alone. He was just a regular boy with a weird haircut, nothing out of ordinary.

"If there is anything I can help you with tell me ok? I want to make it up to you" The boy looked a little puzzled, anyone in his place would. I mean it's not like you bump into a total stranger everyday and they offer to help you just to make it up to you.

"Well, I guess you could help with something. I'm not from this city and I'm looking for a game store."

A game store? Now that was unexpected. Waya had been hoping for more. He didn't know why he hoped that the boy with weird hair would make his day more exciting. Maybe that was because Shindou did that and Shindou had weird hair too.

Yes that's right. Whenever he spent a day with Shindou he had more fun than on any other day. Maybe that was one of the many reasons he hated Touya Akira so much. Akira was Shindou's rival and Shindou would meet Touya at least twice a week to play go and sometimes on those certain days Waya wanted to go out and eat sushi with his friends or play team go and Touya was just in his way.

Isumi was his best friend but there were things he couldn't do with Isumi. For starters Isumi didn't play video games and he didn't check out the internet too often either. He was a good partner to play go with and Waya learned a lot from him but he sometimes wished Isumi were a little more outgoing.

"Um…I think we just passed by one didn't we guys?" Waya turned to ask his friends "Go strait forward and the first street on the right" he continued without waiting for the answer.

"Thank you" said the boy bowing slightly.

"No problem. Actually…why don't we just take you there…since you are not from around here…" he changed his mind.

"That's all right. I don't want to be a bother. I'm sure I'll find it."

"No problem at all. We have nothing better to do anyway. Right guys?" Waya turned to the others waiting for their affirmative answer.

It was true that they had nothing important to do so they might just as well help the boy out so they all started walking back the way they came from. Meanwhile Hikaru and Waya resumed their unfinished game.

"It's my turn right? 16-10"

"What?" Hikaru seemed to have forgotten about their game but he soon remembered it and made his move "Oh yeah 4-10"

"15-4"

They walked for a couple of blocks and stopped in front of a toy store. The boy entered first and since they came all the way the others followed.

"What are you looking for? A present for someone?" asked Hikaru who by that time burned with curiosity.

"No. I'm looking for rare cards."

Rare cards? What was that kid talking about? Poker cards weren't rare; tarot cards weren't rare either. What other cards were there?

They all looked around for cards that might interest the boy but they didn't find anything that would be described by the word 'rare'. The boy didn't seem to be satisfied with what he found either and turned to leave, the others close behind.

"What cards are you looking for anyway?" Hikaru decided to get the answers they all seemed to want.

"Duel Monsters cards" he stated the obvious "But they didn't have any. I was hoping to find some rare cards here in Tokyo but I didn't find any in neither of the game stores I entered." The boy looked really disappointed and the news he was going to get wouldn't make things better.

"You won't find anything like that here" explained Hikaru.

The fact that Hikaru seemed to know what the boy was talking about made Waya and Isumi curious since they had no idea what Duel Monsters was. Of course they assumed it was a game since the boy was looking for those cards in a game store but other than that they were totally clueless.

"Hey Shindou, you know that game?" asked Waya.

"Yeah, I saw something about it on the internet once. There are all these monster cards and then the players would take out a monster each and the stronger one wins while the other loses life points. When one player gets to zero life points the game is over" explained Hikaru, or at least he attempted to.

"Is that so? Sounds boring, like a game for three years old kids" puffed Waya displeased. Following this kid was all just a waste of time.

"Actually Duel Monsters is more a strategy game rather than a game based on dumb luck. You have to build your strategy with what you have at hand and believe in the heart of the cards."

Heart of the cards? What the hell is that? The next thing he would say is that there is a heart of the goban too or maybe a heart of the stones? Yeah, that's right. A heart of the stones that would tell you the best choice for the next move. Oh please!

They all gave each other a strange look but didn't let the other boy know that they found him…well…odd.

They soon reached the point where Hikaru and his friends went their separate ways and then said their goodbyes. Waya and Isumi lived closer to each other so they would split up later.

"You coming this way?" Hikaru asked the boy not sure if he wanted to be in this boy's company anymore.

"Yes" he answered.

Well, the boy wasn't going to leave so he could at least find out his name.

"I'm Shindou Hikaru. What's your name?"

"Mutou Yuugi. Do you mind if I ask you what were those numbers all about?"

"Numbers? Oh yeah" he said as he remembered the game he was playing with Waya earlier. "We were playing go. Sometime on our way home we do that."

"Go? Don't you need a board or something for that?"

"Nah. We're pros. Besides these games are not serious, they're just for passing time."

"And I thought that only old people played that. It's strange to find that there are kids my age who are already professionals. It's supposed to be a hard game."

Hikaru chuckled. "Yeah, I used to think that too until a few years ago. You'd be surprised how many children and young people play it" he said amused. "By the way where are you from?"

"Domino City."

"And don't you have go salons there?"

"We do but you won't find any children there. My grandfather owns a Game store and we actually live there so I help him out and sometimes we get orders for go boards from salons. I'm helping with the delivery too but I've never seen kids my age there."

"Then what do kids do for fun in your city?"

"A lot of people play Duel Monsters, then there is Capsule Monsters and Dungeon Dice Monsters. The last one is also very popular."

"Really? Then you should show me that game too!" said Hikaru with sudden interest in the new game. _Why does every one of the games have 'monster' in it? It just makes it sound scary_, he thought.

Duel Monsters…it might not be a bad idea to give the game a chance. Hikaru couldn't remember the last time he tried a new game. He spent most of the time playing go. He played cards with his friends at school and sometimes with Waya too. There was even a time when he couldn't get the poker game out of his mind and he tried to teach it to Touya but the other wouldn't even listen.

With Touya it was like that: either go or nothing. Sometimes Hikaru thought that Touya needed a break. His all life seemed to be meticulously scheduled, from the day he was born until the day he was going to die he ate, slept and breathed go.

It was the main reason they weren't friends in the first place. It wasn't the shouting and yelling that bothered Hikaru the most, it was the fact that he couldn't talk about anything else with his rival and he couldn't do anything with him but play go.

He didn't want to become like that so he decided to spend some time with Yuugi and learn this new game. It might turn out to be fun. He might even call Touya and tell him that he can't make it at their next meeting. A break would be good for both of them.

He had no games the next day so he decided to meet the other boy and try the new game.

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	2. Chapter 2

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"In Duel Monsters there are three main types of cards" started Yuugi while they were sitting at a table in a room at the Go Institute. They had no other place to go and since they barely met Hikaru thought it wasn't such a good idea to go at his place. They made sure the room was empty and they didn't disturb anyone but they wouldn't be interrupted either. "The monster cards" he said showing Hikaru an orange card with the picture of a fluffy little monster with Kuribou written on the top "magic cards" Yuugi put the Kuribou card back in his deck and instead took out a green card called Fusion "and trap cards" this time he took out a red card named Holy barrier mirror force.

Hikaru noticed that on every magic and trap card was written the effect that it had. On the monster cards were the special effects, the attack points, defense points, attribute and the type of monster. There were also some little stars which he didn't know what were for.

He looked in awe at the large variety of cards in Yuugi's deck and something told him that there were many other new cards he hadn't seen yet.

"In order to play a good game you must carefully choose the cards in your deck and combine all three types of cards. Let me show you." Yuugi looked through his deck and put two cards in front of Hikaru "This is Dark magician. As you can see he's quite strong with his 2500 ATK points but sometimes it's not enough so you can use Book of secret arts on him to make him stronger or Magic hats to hide him and buy some time. You can also put him in the grave and that would make Dark magician's disciple, Dark magician girl stronger. You can also use Fusion on him and another monster to get a stronger monster. There are many ways to use a monster."

Yuugi's explanations went on with ways of summoning monsters by sacrifice, fusion or special summoning which also explained the little stars on the monster cards, the graveyard, types of magic card, trap cards and so on.

After a while Hikaru started to understand the basics but it was only then that he realized how hard the game really was. It was just like go, it took a lot of time to learn how to build up a good strategy and a proper deck.

After a couple of hours he felt ready for a game so Yuugi took a game board and a golden box out of his backpack. Hikaru stared at the box in awe. It was covered in what looked like Egyptian hieroglyphs, it had an eye on the front side and it seemed to match the golden pendant Yuugi had around his neck.

Yuugi opened the box and gave it to him.

"These are my other cards. I don't use them in my usual deck but you have everything you need there to build a proper deck with them. You can borrow them so we can play."

Hikaru took the box and looked at the cards inside.

"Can I borrow these too?" he asked showing Yuugi three cards that looked different from the others. "They're monster cards right? They also seem to be the strongest monsters you have." One of the monsters had 3000 ATK and 3000 DEF and Hikaru thought it was the most powerful monster Yuugi had. The other two were weird since they only had question marks for ATK and DEF but Hikaru liked them.

"You'd better not use those" said Yuugi noticing what cards Hikaru was talking about.

"Why not? What's wrong with them?" Hikaru didn't understand why Yuugi didn't use those cards in his deck in the first place and why wouldn't he let him use them either. He also noticed concern and maybe even a little fear in the other boy's eyes. What was with those cards?

"Those are the Egyptian God cards" explained Yuugi "They're one of a kind and are very powerful. Trust me it's the best to leave them out." What Yuugi said didn't make too much sense but Hikaru decided that if they were one of a kind it might be better to leave them out, so he turned to the other cards and started building his deck with Yuugi's help.

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A few days had passed and Hikaru did nothing else but play Duel Monsters with his new friend. He had even called off his meeting with Touya saying that he had been sick and couldn't make it.

He told Waya how much fun he had playing Duel Monsters with Yuugi and called him to join them, so they took turns and play against Yuugi with the deck Hikaru had built before.

"You're right it is a cool game" exclaimed Waya "Hey Yuug, can you become a pro at this game?"

"You mean like professional go players or shougi players? No. Dueling is not a job, it's more like a duty and a calling" he said remembering the years he spent with his friends and with Atem saving the world. It was his duty. He was the only one who could do it since Atem was sharing his body.

Without noticing he touched the puzzle around his neck.

"But there are tournaments and they are really popular" continued Yuugi.

"Cool" said Waya "Ok, so it's my turn, right? I draw and then I call out Bubble man and since he's the only monster I have I can draw two more cards, then I equip him with…" but he didn't get to finish his turn because the door opened and Touya Akira burst in and looked around.

**Flashback**

Akira had a match that day and he was just about to go home since Hikaru called off their meeting when Morishita-san greeted him.

"Ah Akira-kun. Good afternoon! Did you have a game today?"

"Good afternoon!" replied the green haired boy with a slight bow "Yes I did."

"How was your game?" asked the young pro.

"It went well, thank you. I won." Akira stated the obvious. Morishita didn't expect any other answer either, it was just the polite thing to ask a pro colleague who had just come out of a match.

"So are you on your way to meet with Shindou-kun?" asked Morishita since he knew about the routine the two rivals had.

"No, I'm going home. He called yesterday and canceled our game. He said he wasn't feeling well."

"That's strange. He didn't look unwell today, or the other day..." started the young pro.

"You saw him today? Where?" interrupted Akira.

"He entered room 10 on the first floor. He was with Waya-kun and another boy I didn't recognize."

The statement was enough to make Akira angry. Shindou had lied to him and cancelled their game for no reason at all and he wasn't about to leave things that way. He will go there and demand an explanation from Shindou and it better be a good one.

"Thank you. Good bye!" he said and bowed in a hurry, then ran up the stairs.

**End of flashback**

"What's the meaning of this?" the green haired boy demanded with a voice full of anger and a piercing look in his green eyes.

Hikaru was puzzled. He wasn't expecting Touya to be there. "Touya! What are you doing here?" he asked a little surprised and a little scared.

"I should be the one asking you that!"

Touya was right and Hikaru didn't know what to say. He had lied and Touya had the right to be angry and demand an explanation. But he didn't have a good one, not really. What was he supposed to say? 'You know, I'm tired of listening to you criticize my every move so I decided to take a break from our games' or maybe 'I thought you were looking for another rival and I didn't need to show up anymore' no…neither would work.

Fortunately for the speechless Hikaru, Waya did have something to say.

"Well maybe he was tired of you telling him what a worthless rival he is and he decided to have some fun with his friends instead."

Waya had hit a vulnerable spot, Akira's ego, because the second one gave Hikaru a glare that could just as well make Hikaru dig his own grave in order to get away. He looked at him as if Hikaru had revealed their most intimate secret (their conversation) to a total stranger.

It's true that Akira told Hikaru that he wasn't good enough to be his rival but he didn't mean that. Hikaru knew that too but his rival's words still hurt. A lot.

Maybe he lied just to get away for a while and maybe he wanted to give Akira a lesson too. He wasn't sure.

Waya's words were like a dagger in Akira's heart. He always knew Hikaru had many friends he hanged out with. Everybody liked Hikaru and Akira could live with that as long as he had his games with Hikaru every week at his father's salon.

Akira didn't have friends. Sometimes that hurt, when he felt lonely he wished he did have someone by his side…but no one was there. He had his go. Yes, he loved go. Go was his friend. Whenever he felt lonely he grabbed a book of tsumego and tried to solve them, it made him feel better. Or maybe it only made him forget for a moment that he was depressed.

But he didn't need friends. He was a pro player and didn't have time to waste with worthless activities, not if he wanted to be the best. And that's exactly what he wanted. As a pro player he only needed a rival to be complete. It took him a lot of time to find someone he could call a rival but the rival finally appeared with the name of Shindou Hikaru. He wasn't going to let Hikaru go, he wasn't going to lose him.

"I'm only trying to make him improve his game by pointing out his mistakes" started Akira.

"What about you, Touya? Don't you ever make mistakes? Don't you think you have something to learn from me too?" this time it was Hikaru who spoke.

"I can still count on my fingers how many times you managed to beat me, which means you have a lot more to learn. Running away from our games won't help." Akira never gave up.

"Well maybe you should do something else from time to time, something fun if you know the meaning of the word."

Akira went closer to the table where the other three boys sat and saw the already started Duel Monsters game.

"Is this what you canceled our game for?" he shouted.

"Yes" answered Hikaru just as angry "I'm learning how to play Duel Monsters."

The statement was too much for Akira. He felt betrayed, left out of something important like Hikaru's life. Ever since he met Hikaru and they became rivals, Akira believed that he held a special place in Hikaru's life, a place that he deserved after all that hard work, a place that he could keep with hard work. Now however he didn't know what to believe anymore. It was as if their rivalry wasn't as important to Hikaru as it was to him. Was Hikaru really going to leave him just to play some ordinary game?

Akira left the room without another word. There was nothing more to say.

"That's right, go and find another rival in your father's go salon" shouted Waya but Akira was already gone.

It was a moment of awkward silence after that.

"I'm sorry for that" Hikaru broke the silence. "It's my fault that all this happened"

"Forget about him it's not worth it. It was his fault in the first place." Waya tried to cheer him up "Oh well I have to go. I promised Isumi to meet up with him and play a few games. See you later!"

Waya left leaving Hikaru and Yuugi all alone in the now very quiet room.

"Shindou-kun will you teach me how to play go?" the sudden question took Hikaru by surprise. How did Yuugi know that he wanted to play go at that moment?

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes."

"_Atem?"_

"_Yes Yuugi."_

"_Do you know how to play go?"_

"_This game didn't exist in ancient Egypt and I've never seen it while I was with you."_

"_Would you like to try it?"_

"_Yes, I'd like that. I'd like to play a game for once knowing that the fate of the world isn't in that game." _

"All right then" Hikaru took a portable go set from his back pack and explained the basics "That's about all. You'll learn the rest by playing." He gave Yuugi the black stones "Why don't you put nine stones before we start."

Yuugi grabbed a stone and almost placed it on a star but then changed his mind.

"No…I'm fine like this" he said as he placed the first stone, starting the game.

Hikaru placed a white stone, then black again, white, black, white… He looked at Yuugi and noticed that the boy was concentrating hard on their game, he was very serious…and more mature…se looked changed. He dismissed the thought. How could he change? But he did look different and he did play extremely well considering that it was his first time and…..he was holding the stones properly.

By the time Hikaru decided that it was time to give the board a proper look he was loosing. How was that possible?

"Are you sure this is the first time you play?" he couldn't believe it was. He remembered how long it took him to learn how to hold the stones properly, this boy couldn't have done it right the first time.

"_Yes." _

Yuugi's voice sounded different, deeper but Hikaru dismissed the thought again.

"_Hikaru, he's no ordinary player."_

"_You noticed too Sai? I thought it was just me."_

"_No, I saw it too…Hikaru let me play him, you are already loosing."_

He was loosing. Badly.

The game went on black, white, black, white…

"_What's wrong Atem?"_

"_Something has changed in his game…"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_He's playing a lot better and his style is slightly different."_

"_Maybe he didn't want to give all he had for your first game but then realized that he had to do better than that."_

"_No, it's not that... He realized a while ago that he was losing but the game he played only changed later."_

"_What do you think it means?"_

"_I don't know."_

Black, white, black, white…

"_He's the strongest opponent I had in more than a thousand years"_

"_I see that too. I would have lost a long time ago but with you playing I'm not worried. You can win, right Sai?"_

"_I'll try but I can barely keep up. It's hard to believe that it's his first time."_

"_Yes it's like he's the king of go or something."_

"_Or king of games…"_

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**Note: I decided to put Juudai's deck in the story too but here it belongs to Yuugi.**

**R&R pretty please**


	3. Chapter 3

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

''Are you sure you've never played before?'' asked Hikaru still surprised.

"_Yes.''_ answered Atem ''but building up strategies in Duel Monsters helped I suppose…''continued Yuugi seeing the suspicious look in Hikaru's eyes. He couldn't just tell Hikaru that he had the King of Games trapped in the Millennium puzzle and that said king was on his side, and playing the current game non the less.

"You are very good, I must admit" said Hikaru still not believing the other boy, but what reason would Yuugi have to lie to him about that?

Black, white, black….

Atem was playing Hikaru (Sai) and Yuugi had nothing to do but watch the game. It wasn't as if the game wasn't interesting to watch and all but he couldn't help but feel guilty for the scene from before.

The green haired boy seemed to be very angry with Hikaru for spending time with him and playing Duel Monsters. Of course it wasn't Yuugi's fault that Hikaru had lied to the other boy but that didn't help Yuugi's conscience since Hikaru had lied in order to spend time with him.

His mind drifted away and he didn't even notice Atem's voice in his mind.

"_Yuugi….Yuugi….the game is over…."_ The ghost stopped for a second and waited for a reaction from the other _''Are you alright?"_

"_Yes…" _he finally said _"Sorry about that…Who won?"_ he asked a bit curious. He knew Atem was the best at building strategies as far as he knew.

"_Hikaru did"_ stated Atem with a hint of disappointment in his voice. _''Ever since he changed his game style it became hard to keep up with him."_

''_It's over, isn't it Sai?''_

''_Yes it is, that last move was a mistake and it will bring him to his loss''_

''_He played well though.''_

''_I think I found myself a new rival, Hikaru. You know….I never expected to find a rival in a boy out of all people. I want to play him again sometimes."_

''_We'll see about that, Sai''_

''_Datte, Hikaru….why are you so mean?'' _the ghost pouted as he did every time Hikaru refused to let him play. Hikaru didn't answer though. He seemed to be distracted by the other boy.

''Are you alright?'' asked Hikaru as the other boy seemed a bit lost. ''Are you worried that you lost?"

"No….it's not that…"

''It was a very good game you know, you could be a pro if you wanted" continued Hikaru trying to cheer the other boy up.

''I was wandering about the boy that came in earlier. I'm sorry for making him angry with you" said Yuugi suddenly looking at his fists that were clenched over his knees.

''What are you talking about?'' asked Hikaru suddenly taken aback by the other boy ''Touya's outbursts have nothing to do with you.'' That seemed to cheer the other boy up a bit. ''Touya is just a go maniac who doesn't seem to care about anything else and he tends to hurt people with harsh words whenever it comes to go." This time it was Hikaru that looked at his feet as he remembered the time Akira told him that he wasn't a worthy rival. His blonde bangs covered his sad eyes but this sadness didn't go unnoticed by the other boy.

''You two must be close friends because I can tell that you care about him a lot'' noted Yuugi.

''We're not really friends. I barely know him outside the Institute and his father's go salon. We're just rivals although I wish we could be friends, but I don't know how to make him open up to me."

''Don't worry Hikaru, I'm sure in time he will open up to you and you two will become friends. Wonders happen sometimes'' said Yuugi as he remembered how he had made his first friends.

Touya remembered Yuugi of himself. He used to be a game nerd that everyone made fun of except for Anzu, his only childhood friend, with no friends to talk to or play with, but after he solved the Millennium puzzle and his secret wish was granted he had many friends and even a rival. He didn't feel lonely anymore. Of course he didn't expect Hikaru to have a wish granting puzzle but even for Hikaru and Touya things could work out in a miraculous way.

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Akira was recreating a game in the back room at his father's go salon. He had instructed Ichikawa-san, the woman at the counter that he didn't want to be disturbed by anyone for any reason at all. He just wanted to be alone and clear his mind.

But he couldn't. He couldn't concentrate on the game he was recreating. He was placing the stones on the board one by one as he knew the game by heart but he wasn't thinking about it. His mind was trailing off at a certain dark haired boy with bleached bangs and at their last conversation.

Akira wandered if he had been too harsh with Shindou, if the words he had said at their last game meeting hurt his rival more than he intended to.

But that didn't mean Shindou had to lie. He could have simply said that they shouldn't see each other for a while.

No he couldn't. Akira knew very well that he would have dragged Shindou all the way to the go salon if that was the only reason his rival had to miss their games. And Shindou knew that too.

Akira was frustrated. Their games were the only constant thing in his life that made him happy. He liked playing go and he didn't mind recreating games by himself or playing against any opponent, he wasn't picky but the games against Shindou were special. Shindou had a gift to get the best out of Akira during a game. He was the only one Akira ever considered a challenge, the only one among the players their age who was good enough to be his rival.

Shindou was also the only one who could make Akira lose his temper and shout and hit the table with his fists for no good reason at all, the only one who made Akira feel comfortable. He never felt the need to control his actions and words in front of Shindou, he could just be himself.

The last white stone was in its place on the board and Akira stopped to give a better look at the goban. It was the last game he played with Shindou. The game had ended before time since Shindou stormed out of the salon after Akira….

**Flashback**

"What's with that move Shindou? Are you even concentrating on the game?" Akira shouted at his rival making everyone look at them, but he didn't care.

"Of course I am and there is nothing wrong with that move" shouted the equally angry Hikaru.

"Nothing wrong? It's the dumbest move you could have done. Anyone in this salon would have done a better move" now that was an exaggeration but it still looked like a bad move. It gave Akira the opportunity to take a large territory from Hikaru.

"Is that so?"

"I can't believe that someone who is giving up such a large territory is my rival. Maybe I should look for a better rival in the salon." Now that was another exaggeration but Akira was just trying to point out a huge mistake. It was something any good rival would do, right?

"Well, go ahead, be my guest." Shindou was stubborn and difficult sometimes.

**End of flashback**

Shindou left after that without even explaining what he had in mind with that last move…

Akira was still staring at the goban when the realization hit him. Shindou's move wasn't wrong at all. It was just one of those moves Shindou made sometimes that seemed to be stupid but after a few turns they turned out to be brilliant. Usually Akira noticed Shindou's strategy since they knew each other's go so well but this time it just slipped.

And he said such awful things… No wonder that Shindou didn't want to see him anymore.

It was time for Akira to apologize.

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Hikaru and Yuugi talked a lot about their friends and about Hikaru's relationship with Akira.

Yuugi even decided to tell Hikaru about those painful memories from the days when he had no friends nor did he know what to do to befriend anyone. He hoped that his story will make Hikaru understand a little better the situation Akira is in.

''And now you are friends with the guys who threw your puzzle piece in the river?'' asked Hikaru amazed. He didn't know what he would do if someone threw a stone from his portable go set in the river but he would definitely not take it so well as Yuugi did.

''Yeah, we spend a lot of time together and even if Jonouchi and I are the only ones who play Duel Monsters, Anzu and Honda are always by our side in competitions and cheer for us.''

Of course Yuugi didn't mention his wish granting puzzle but his story seemed to bring hope to the other boy and he was happy to help.

''But this is a bit different…''Hikaru started doubting again. ''I mean….I have friends at the institute and I have friends at school, some of them don't even know how to play go and some of them are just mediocre players and I never had problems befriending them. Touya however is impossible for me to reach…no matter how hard I try….He's just stuck in his little world and he won't come out of it unless it's go related. I don't even know what his favorite color is'' Hikaru said frustrated.

''He may not know how to make friends but the fact that you lied to him doesn't change things for the best'' Yuugi pointed out. This made Hikaru feel bad. Yuugi was right. Even if at the time he couldn't find a better solution, lying to Akira was a mistake. He decided to apologize for it later on.

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	4. Chapter 4

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"Shindou" shouted Yuugi as he was still far from the other boy.

Hikaru stopped in his way and waited for the other boy to catch up his breath, then asked "Yuugi, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you that I have a game today?"

"I know" started Yuugi "I just came to say goodbye. I'm going back to Domino City this afternoon" there was a slight disappointment in his voice but he seemed also happy to go home.

"What? Already?" Hikaru knew that he was going to miss his new friend and his monsters and so would Waya. He wished he didn't have to say goodbye, or at least not yet. Yuugi could say some strange things and be a little weird sometimes but he was a good friend. What if he would never see Yuugi again?

"I want you to have this" said Yuugi giving Hikaru a card "This card reminds me of you, of your faith and strength, it suites you."

"Thanks" Hikaru took the card and read Magician of faith. He didn't really understand in what way he resembled the pink haired girl on the card but he accepted Yuugi's gift anyway. He wanted to give Yuugi something too but what? Then suddenly he had an idea and took his portable go board from his backpack.

"Here, take this. I know you don't play go and all but you can keep it as a souvenir or something."

Yuugi hesitated at the site of the portable go board. He only gave Hikaru a card as a symbol of their friendship, he didn't expect the other boy to return the gesture and even if he did a go board was too much.

"Are you sure? Don't you need it?"

"Nah, that's OK. I have one more at home" answered Hikaru giving the other a bright smile.

"Thanks. I have to go now, bye!" said Yuugi as he turned to leave. He stopped after a while and looked back to see Hikaru still standing in front of the Institute. He waved and the other waved back their last goodbye.

When Yuugi was out of his site Hikaru entered the Go Institute. He was already late for his game….

He was always late for his games, usually because he couldn't get up in the morning or because he couldn't find something in his permanently messy room. This time however he managed to come on time just to be stopped in the way by his new friend. It just wasn't his lucky day.

He entered the game room and took a seat in the only empty place left and bowed.

"Onegaishimasu"

"Onegaishimasu" answered his opponent bowing slightly then starting the game.

The game went well for Hikaru, he won again. If he kept winning he would soon be a 3 dan just like Touya.

Hikaru was ready to leave when Akira called his name.

"What do you want Touya?" he wasn't in the mood to argue with Touya again.

"I came to apologize" answered the green haired boy.

Hikaru couldn't believe his ears. Touya Akira doesn't apologize so easily and he definitely doesn't apologize to him. Never. Hikaru was already used to the fact that Touya would never admit he was wrong in front of him. His rival was so stubborn that sometimes Hikaru wandered how he managed to swallow his pride in front of the elders and be so polite that he was given as a model to other teenagers.

And yet there he was, swallowing his pride in front of Hikaru and doing something Hikaru never expected him to do.

"I shouldn't have said that you are not a good player and that you're not worth of being my rival. I wouldn't want anyone else as a rival."

"Now that's something you don't hear every day. The great Touya Akira apologizing to an ordinary player" Hikaru knew it wasn't a nice thing to say but he couldn't help it, he was sill angry with Touya. He expected the other boy to snap back at him but he didn't.

"I hope you will still come at the go salon sometimes…when you don't play with your new friend that is."

"He left. We can't play anymore" Hikaru said bluntly and Akira could sense the sadness in the other's voice. "And….sure, I'll come by sometimes."

Akira felt relived that things will come back to normal. He didn't expect Shindou to forgive him right away but he was going to wait until that happened.

"Touya-kun! Oh Shindou-kun is here too, that's great." The boys turned around at the sound of Amano-san's voice and sure enough the journalist was coming happily towards them. "How were your games today?" he asked but it was obviously enough that he didn't really care about that. There was only one answer to this question when you asked Shindou Hikaru and Touya Akira. He was exited about something and it had nothing to do with the two go prodigies' latest wins.

"It went well" both boys answered in unison and looked at each other hoping the other had the answer to the unasked question.

"That's great, really great" concluded the journalist troubled by the delay. "The Weekly Go was just informed about the Institute's new project of spreading the go fever among children and you two were selected to participate. I know you weren't announced about it yet but I wanted to be the first one to tell you. So what do you think?"

Hikaru and Akira looked at each other again, a little more puzzled this time. None of them understood what Amano-san was talking about.

"I think it _is_ a good idea to show the game to other children after all they are the future pros" concluded Akira.

"Yes but didn't the Institute do that before right here in Tokyo?" asked Hikaru.

"Well see, Shindou-kun, that's it. They only did it in Tokyo. That's why they want to do it in other cities where there are no Go Institutes and Insei Schools. I heard that you two were assigned for Domino City. Don't you find it really strange that they don't have proper insei schools in the City of Games?"

"Domino City you say?" Hikaru's face lightened up by excitement. He's been dreaming of going to Domino City eves since Yuugi told him about it. He wanted to see all the arcades, game stores and thousands of games they had there and who knows, he might even find Yuugi and buy some Duel Monsters cards and build a proper deck and challenge someone and….

"Shindou? Shindou are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yea." He was brought back to reality by Akira's voice.

"Well then I'll leave you two. I'm sure that by tomorrow you'll be informed with the details" said Amano-san bowing.

As soon as the journalist was out of site the two boys turned to leave too.

"Say Shindou, what were you spacing out about before?" wandered Akira.

"Domino City" Hikaru answered bluntly making Akira ask for details. "Yuugi, the boy with the Duel Monsters cards is from Domino City and he told me many things about the place. It sounded like fun."

"For Kami-sama's sake Shindou we're going there with a job not on a holiday. Why can't you be serious about it? We will be representing Tokyo's Go Institute and we have to make a good impression" Akira scolded his rival.

"No Touya, you should be more relaxed about it and learn to have some fun. You won't die if you try a new game sometimes. No one is asking you to give up on go or something just to try something new for a change. And I wasn't going to neglect my job either."

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"Come on Shindou, hurry up. We'll miss the bus if you don't hurry."

"Jeez Touya, I'm buying a map. We'll need it you know."

The boys had arrived at the Domino airport one week after their conversation with Amano-san from the Weekly Go. The next day they had been officially informed about their leaving to Domino City where they were supposed to teach go at the Domino City's Game Academy. Their staying there was going to be determined by the success they had among the students from the Academy and among the younger children who would participate at the go classes given after the Academy classes were over.

From what they were told the boys knew that the Game Academy was preparing its students to be duelists but it also had classes for other games like Japanese, Chinese and International chess, go, arimaa, Capsule Monsters and Dungeon Dice Monsters though some of these classes weren't so good. It seemed that their porpoise there was to help the go class to become one of the best classes at the Academy and make the student gain interest in the game.

"All right but hurry up will you?"

"I'm ready, let's go!"

They took the bus to the Domino Grand Hotel where they would meet the head master of the Academy.

On their way there Hikaru looked left and right exited. He had never seen a city like that before and he used to think that nothing could impress someone who had lived all his life in Tokyo. He couldn't mistake more. As the buss passed the entrance to Kaiba Land guarded by two statues of the Blue eyed white dragon, Hikaru ran to the back of the bus just to see it a while longer.

"_Look Sai, isn't it amazing? That must be the Blue eyes Yuugi told us about, remember?"_

"_Ne, Hikaru? Do you think we could go there sometime?"_

"_I'll make sure we go there, Sai. We might even find Yuugi and go together."_

"_Really?" _the ghost jumped around happily_ "Will you let me play go against him again?"_

"_Go?" _Hikaru seemed a bit upset_ "Don't you want to try something new for a change?"_

"_I want to play him again"_ Sai suddenly became serious and from the look on his face Hikaru understood that Sai considered Yuugi his rival. And why wouldn't he? After all Yuugi had managed to draw the best out of Sai and Sai gave him the same determined look Akira gave Hikaru whenever they played each other.

"Can't you just sit down Shindou? Stop behaving like a child!"

"Oh come on Touya. Aren't you impressed? Not even a little bit?" When Kaiba Land was out of site Hikaru took his seat next to Akira.

"It's just a theme park for children, nothing to be impressed about" said Akira serious as ever.

"Yuugi said they have 3D image projectors in there and you can watch the Duel Monsters games with 3D monsters."

"That's just for show off."

"Jeez Touya, is there anything that impresses you at all?" mocked Hikaru.

"Of course there is."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"Sai…he impressed me."

"Right. Go again."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No…" Hikaru gave up.

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It wasn't hard for Akira and Hikaru to find the Hotel after they got off the bus after all it was the tallest and most spectacular building in the area but what surprised them the most was their welcome committee. A little boy around twelve years old with long, black, a little messy hair dressed in jeans and shirt was waiting for them in the hall. When he noticed them entering he stood up from the couch he was sitting on with a laptop on his knees and greeted them, letting them know _he_ was the one waiting for them.

"I'm Mokuba Kaiba" said the boy "My brother is a bit busy at the moment and he couldn't come but I'll take his place." Even though he was very young the boy had a professional air and seemed to know what he was doing.

"Is your brother the headmaster of the Game Academy?" Hikaru asked stunned.

"My brother _owns_ the Game Academy" answered Mokuba with a tone of superiority. "As a mater of fact he owns almost the entire city." This was an overstatement, right? It had to be. How old could this kid's brother be and how important?

"We were supposed to meet the headmaster of the Academy" said Akira bluntly and a bit annoyed that he had to deal with a little kid.

"You were offered the privilege to meet the president of Kaiba Corporation in person and you don't know how to appreciate the honor?" shouted Mokuba but Akira was still not impressed. He just wanted to get this conversation over with and find someone who would tell him details about their job or go to his room at the hotel, take a hot bath and play some go….it didn't really matter which one of the two it was as long as he got rid of this annoying kid.

"Anyway" Mokuba continued "You were sent here to teach the go class so here is your schedule. Two times a week you will have open public classes in a room specially prepared for that purpose here at the hotel. You will be staying here in one of the VIP apartments. Here are your keys" he gave each of them a set of keys "If there is anything you need you have a phone number on the papers I gave you. A car will be sent tomorrow morning to take you to the Academy but only for tomorrow. After that you will have to take the bus. Any questions?" Neither of the boys came up with questions so Mokuba said his goodbye and left in a hurry.

Akira took his luggage and headed to the elevator "Hey Touya wait up!" shouted Hikaru seeing the elevator's doors closing "You could at least warn me that you're leaving."

"There nothing left for me to do here so of course I'm leaving" said the green haired boy finally giving the other a look.

Hikaru was reading his schedule when Akira wanted to leave so he didn't notice the other boy heading to the elevator and he seemed pleased.

"We have all our classes in the morning. It seems that they put the boring stuff in the afternoon."

"And what might the boring stuff be?" asked Akira just for the sake of a conversation.

"You know….math, English, geography, history, science….that kinda stuff."

"I like science, it's not boring and English is useful. The other subjects have their porpoise too I think."

"I'm never going to understand you Touya…never."

"You already understand my go…"

"I wish I understood more though" whispered Hikaru to himself.

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	5. Chapter 5

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"Shindou, wake up! I'm not going to be late on my first day because of you!" shouted Akira while knocking on Hikaru's door.

"I'm up, I'm up" came the answer from a half asleep Hikaru.

"The car will be here in half an hour. You better be ready by then or I'm leaving without you."

Why did Touya have to be so neat and punctual? Hikaru found that really annoying sometimes. After all it was Touya who kept him awake last night to play go saying that he needed his evening games he used to play with his father when he was at home.

Half an hour later Akira was dragging Hikaru out of the hotel and into the parking place where a black car was waiting for them. After taking them to the Academy outside the city the driver showed them where the bus station was and left.

"Come on Shindou, we still have to find the headmaster" said Akira but Hikaru was too stunned to listen. The Academy was the biggest school he has ever seen and it most certainly didn't look like any school he had ever seen before.

"Right, coming" but they didn't need to go too far because a familiar face was waiting for them on the main building's steps. "Yuugi" shouted Hikaru excited ignoring the just as excited ghost next to him "What are you doing here?"

"I teach here and when I heard that you were coming I offered to be your welcoming committee and guide so welcome to the Domino City's Game Academy" he gave the boys a bright smile.

"Aren't you too young to be a teacher?" asked Akira still not believing and how can you blame him since this city seemed pretty unusual even though he wouldn't admit that.

"I'm older than you and you are teachers here…so why are you asking?"

"We're professional go players. Age is not important when you're a pro" explained Akira.

"Well dueling is not a job, not yet anyway so I can't be a pro but as long as I'm good enough I can be a teacher."

"Isn't it pointless to teach a game when you can't even become a professional player? I'm talking about teaching it in school of course."

"This academy is less than five years old but I'm sure that in time Duel Monsters and other games will be treated just like go and chess. Everyone who comes to study here is aiming to work in the game industry. Most of them are aiming for the Kaiba Corporation or even Industrial Illusions."

Kaiba Corp. sounded familiar to the go players. That Mokuba kid said something about his brother being the president of Kaiba Corp. but the other name didn't mean anything to them.

"So what is with this Kaiba Corp. and Industrial Illusions anyway? Yesterday a kid named Mokuba Kaiba waited for us at the hotel and he said that his brother was the president of Kaiba Corp. and he owned the city." Hikaru asked for details.

"Shall we go?" asked Yuugi showing them the door then he continued "He was right. Seto Kaiba is the president of the largest game corporation, Kaiba Corp. This entire city is built around his game industry. As for Industrial Illusions, Maximilian Pegasus, its president, is the one who created Duel Monsters or shall I say recreate it. The game exists the way it does now thanks to them."

"Recreate it? What do you mean?" Yuugi laughed sheepishly at the last question.

"It's a long story…maybe we should leave it for some other time. It's time for classes anyway." He led them in a large room with many tables with go boards, near a wall there were some computers and a large TV screen. "The headmaster said that you are free to reorganize the class if you have to. I have to go now so…bye!"

"Hey Yuugi! Why don't you come over at the hotel this evening for a game and don't forget to bring your decks?" said Hikaru excited and the other nodded in agreement, then left.

Hikaru and Akira didn't have enough time to look around the room when the students started to enter and take their seats in front of the gobans. None of them paid too much attention to the new comers except for a girl with long blonde hair.

"Are you lost?" she asked.

"We're the new professors" answered Akira. "Could you tell us where can we find the game records?" Akira went strait to the point. He seemed to know where he was supposed to start from and by the end of the day he had a pretty good idea about the level of each their students based on the records at least. He also reorganized the class in a structure similar to the insei school, with two classes and the promotion system. He also announced that from the next day on Hikaru and he will play each student shidougo, not only to personally test their level but to help them improve as well.

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The day passed fast and since they didn't have the afternoon game sessions at the hotel they decided to take a look around the city.

To Hikaru's surprise Akira didn't refuse or complain whenever the bleached boy wanted to enter a game store or an arcade yet he refused to play. He instead waited patiently for Hikaru to try the games and watch other people play.

Suddenly a crowd in the street caught their attention and Hikaru dragged Akira closer to see what was going on. Two boys around eleven years old seemed to be fighting for something.

"Give it back, it's mine" shouted one of the boys fisting his hands.

"No. You lost it and I found it. You know the rule finders keepers losers weepers" said the other with an air of superiority. For a moment there Hikaru and Akira thought they were going to start a fight right there on the spot.

"Isn't anyone going to stop them? Someone might get hurt." asked Akira and a boy who seemed to cheer for the one who lost something explained:

"No…they're not going to fight, they're going to duel. Michi will definitely win and get his card back." Then he turned to his friend and shouted "Go Michi show him what you can do!"

"Game on!" shouted the boys in unison pressing the on buttons on the devices they had on their wrists.

"What are those?" Hikaru asked no one in particular but expected an answer from the boy who talked to them before.

"Don't you know anything? They're duel disks. They're 3D hologram projectors specially created for Duel Monsters."

"Duel disks? Why didn't Yuugi mention them before?" asked Hikaru annoyed.

"Did you say Yuugi?" asked the kid "Do you know Yuugi Mutou?"

"Yeah….why? Hikaru was still puzzled.

"I'm his biggest fan. Wait 'till Michi hears this. Can you ask him for an autograph for me?"

"I guess but… why?"

"Why do I want an autograph from Yuugi? Geez, I don't know. Maybe because HE'S THE CHAMPION OF THE DUELIST'S KINGDOM TOURNAMENT. You really are stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" shouted Hikaru

"Right" said the boy bluntly. Hikaru wanted to tell him some more but the duel in front of him and the 3D holograms were things he didn't want to miss so they both turned to watch the duel and for Hikaru it was the most amazing thing ever.

"Wasn't it great Touya?" he asked his rival on their way to the hotel.

"I guess"

"You guess?! It was better than any video game ever made!"

"If you say so" Akira was still not very impressed. OK he was but he would never allow himself to behave like a child and shout out loud like his bleached rival did. "Alright it was entertaining" he finally admitted.

"You're finally being honest Touya. You can't lie to me. I saw you gasp when that kid called that giant spider. It was a good thing Michi had that Jinzo guy to save him."

"I only gasped because I don't like spiders. That's all."

"Relax….it was just a hologram" Hikaru assured his rival. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I wasn't afraid only it was ugly and the eggs it laid were gross." The face Akira made when he said 'gross' made Hikaru laugh out loud.

"You know Touya you should try this game sometimes it's really fun."

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They arrived back at the hotel and went to eat something before Yuugi came. After what happened today Hikaru had so many questions for Yuugi like why didn't he mention the Duelist's Kingdom Tournament or those awesome hologram projectors or the fact that he was a champion.

Akira had his questions too. He knew even less about Duel Monsters than Hikaru did but he had to admit, at least to himself, that it was an interesting game and the holograms made it look so…real especially when the duelists put their hearts in the game.

He knew that feeling and understood it well. He too put his heart in go especially when he played against worthy opponents like his father, or Shindou, or Sai. He started to accept the new game and noted in his mind not to shout at Shindou when he played it with Yuugi. In fact he might even decide to look at them play for a while, it could be interesting.

There was a knock on the door and Hikaru went to open it.

"Hey, you forgot to tell me so many things about that game AND about you" he started without even inviting Yuugi in.

It was a good thing that Akira didn't forget his manners "Aren't going to invite him in first or do you want the entire hotel to know that you have a visitor."

The conversation started again as soon as they were all seated in the living room with glasses of juice in front of them.

"So when were you going to tell me that you are a champion?" asked Hikaru.

"I'm not really a champion" said Yuugi looking worried. "Pegasus organized that Tournament to test my skills after I defeated Kaiba and he kidnapped my grandfather and Mokuba to make sure that both Seto and I went to that tournament."

"That's outrageous" said Akira fisting his hands in his lap "How low can someone go for a game?"

"It's not just a mere game" started Yuugi with a sad voice. His grandfather's kidnap was something he didn't want to remember but the images came back one by one: his grandfather's face on the duel card, then Mokuba crying for help, then Kaiba after failing to save his brother, then the duel with Pegasus, the final fight against the Millennium eye and the Toon world. "Duel Monsters is real. It might sound silly but it is."

"Of course it's real we played it didn't we?"

"That's not what I meant….I mean…" But Yuugi was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Akira opened and to their surprise Mokuba was standing happily in front of him.

"Hello" he said "Oh Yuugi's here too, great" he let himself in and Akira closed the door behind him. They all waited curiously for the little boy to start telling them why he came in the first place. "My brother needs your help."

"With what?" asked Yuugi curious.

"Do you remember the virtual reality game he designed last time?"

"How can I forget? Kaiba got trapped in it by the big five and we had to fight them to save our lives."

"Yeah, well sorry about that but my brother and Noah designed another virtual reality game and it's even better than the first one. He wants you to test it."

"Well…the big five are gone so I guess it's safe."

"Then come at the Kaiba Corp. Tower tomorrow evening at six, all of you" Mokuba turned to leave but he was stopped by Akira's voice.

"What do you mean all of us? We play go not Duel Monsters?"

"Oh right I almost forgot. This virtual reality game includes all sorts of strategy games. There will be a whole team testing it my brother and I included. See you tomorrow!"

Yuugi had a bad feeling about this. In the past few years everything related to Duel Monsters was nothing but trouble: the Duelist's Kingdom, Marik and his organization, Kaiba's virtual reality game and then his tournament for collecting rare cards, the fight against the Atlantian power of the Seal of Orekalcos, Noah and last but not least their journey to get Atem's memory back when they fought Bakura. He just knew that something was going to happen again.

"What's wrong Yuugi?" asked Hikaru. His friend didn't look so good and he was a little concerned. Ever since Mokuba left Yuugi seemed to be lost in thoughts.

"Maybe I should tell you all I know about Duel Monsters" he said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hikaru.

"It might sound like a silly story but it's all true. A long time ago in ancient Egypt a pharaoh created seven sacred objects holding the gods' powers called the millennium items in order to save the world from evil. He had six trusted people to guard six objects and he gave his son, Atem the last one, the Millennium Puzzle…They used these items to lock the evil inside people's hearth in stone tablets. That evil appeared in front of them as monsters and they had to tame these monsters so they could do no more harm. That's how Duel Monsters actually started. They used the tamed monsters to fight against more powerful ones. Those people protect the sacred items even now. Then Maximilian Pegasus found out about these monsters and he decided to bring the ancient game back to life. Back then he also had the Millennium Eye entrusted to him, that's how he kidnapped my grandfather."

"It is scientifically impossible for such magic items to exist." Akira folded his arms over his chest annoyed. "It sounds more like a story you would tell your little brother before bedtime" he continued.

Hikaru looked at him offended. He agreed with Akira in a way but Sai's story wasn't less fantastic so he didn't hurry to jump at a conclusion just yet. He was sure that Yuugi knew that too and he must have had a good reason to tell them that story.

''You may not believe it but it's true. Once these objects get you into the Shadow Realm there is no way out unless you win the duel." Suddenly Yuugi became silent. He wandered why he expected the two boys to believe him in the first place. The story was as if taken out from a fantasy book but it had been his reality for a while now and it was hard for him to ignore it.

Several other great Duel Monsters players have encountered evil forces who used the power of the Duel Monsters cards in order to serve their porpoises and had to work hard to save the ones they cared for.

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	6. Chapter 6

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Yuugi left the night before without saying much more, thinking that he already made a fool of himself enough. He was just worried for his new friend though. He didn't want Hikaru to accept Kaiba's offer without knowing everything that could happen to him.

He decided to accept though and be by Hikaru's side if anything went wrong. He just hoped he was the one mistaking and things would turn out alright.

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After Yuugi left Akira brought the go ban so he and Hikaru would play their evening game before bedtime.

''You don't actually believe that story, do you Shindou?'' he asked as Hikaru entered the living room with a tray with two cups of steaming green tea and cookies.

''I don't see why he would lie to us, Touya'' defended the bleached boy as he set the tray on the coffee table. ''I spent some time with him and I can tell you that he is not crazy. Why don't we just go there tomorrow and see what Kaiba's new game is about. Who knows it might end up to be fun.''

''Remember that we didn't come here for this, Shindou.'' Testing games was not their job and Akira wasn't sure he wanted to do it.

''Come on Touya….'' Started Shindou as he took two stones out of his goke for nigiri. ''It's go related, and who knows…..you may end up to like it.''

Akira was still considering this. He couldn't say that he wasn't a bit curious how a virtual reality game could englobe his beloved go along with other strategy games. He didn't know much about games but he knew that kids loved them and who knows? This game could even turn up to be educational and bring more kids towards the path of go.

But at the same time, Akira knew that he wouldn't let Hikaru go alone even if he argued with him a bit before. He didn't want to be left out of Hikaru's life anymore.

''I'm black'' he started ''Fine. We'll go there tomorrow evening and see what this is all about but if I don't like it I'm leaving'' Akira finished with a stern look on his face.

Hikaru smiled. It was the first time he felt that he was reaching Akira even though Akira's expression didn't change from the usual.

They played their game as usual but none of them seemed to want to point out any mistakes to the other. For the first time since they declared their rivalry they played a game in silence while they were not at the Institute.

Of course they would not shout at each other at the Institute where they would disturb other players but they would always end up at Touya's salon and discuss the game there until their lungs burned and until their ears hurt, so this silent game was truly a miracle.

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The next evening came faster that expected and Hikaru was really excited. As a matter of fact he was the most excited one from their three members group as they headed to Kaiba Corp. Tower.

As they entered they saw a blond boy with a green coat waving at them.

''Hey Yuugi, buddy, you finally came'' he said coming closer to them and apparently forgetting about the brunet who had been his companion before Yuugi's group came in.

''Hey Jonouchi'' greeted Yuugi. ''These are Shindou Hikaru and Touya Akira'' started Yuugi motioning his hand towards the boys as he said their names ''they are professional go players that are currently teaching at the Game Academy" Akira gave the boy a nod in recognition while Hikaru gave the other a handshake. ''This my friend Jonouchi Katsuya and over there is Otogi Ryuji'' Yuugi continued turning to the other two boys.

The brunet who had been standing with Jonouchi before, came closer to them too.

''So you're go players?'' he asked not bothering to greet them first or introduce himself.

''Yeah…'' said Hikaru.

''Then what are you doing here?'' Ryuji continued not bothering with being polite to some complete strangers.

''We were invited here to test a game.'' This time it was Akira's turn to speak.

Ryuji covered his forehead with the backhand of his left hand, while the other was still on his hip and started laughing loudly.

''What's so funny?'' asked Akira surprised by the other's sudden outburst.

''You won't even last for five minutes in that game…..'' he said still laughing but he was interrupted by someone who cleared his throat right behind him.

The two Kaiba brothers and a green haired kid stood behind him.

''So I see everyone is here. Good. Now follow me in the testing room'' Seto Kaiba went strait to the point.

Akira wasn't very content with the welcoming committee. He expected them to be more polite and at least introduce themselves. The only one he actually recognized was Mokuba and he just assumed that the older one was Mokuba's older brother and the president of Kaiba Corp. Seto Kaiba. He would not be surprised since the older one was just as rude and had the same air of superiority as Mokuba. The boy with green hair was however a mystery to him since not even Yuugi mentioned him before.

They entered a room with several comfortable looking armchairs that had helmets seated on them. The green haired boy climbed the stairs that were on the right side of the room and entered a small room with a glass wall that looked like some kind of control room.

''I'm ready'' he said and his voice was heard ten folded in the large room through two speakers.

''Each of you take a seat and put the helmets on'' ordered Seto and the others had nothing to do but obey.

Akira wished he was given more details about what was going to happen. Ryuji's words got to him more than he wanted to admit and he wanted to find out what the other had meant when he said that they wouldn't last in the game for more that five minutes, before entering the game world.

He threw Hikaru a quick look but the other boy seemed confident and not at all concerned. Then he looked at Yuugi. It seemed to him that Yuugi was hesitating a little but said nothing. Akira didn't expect him to quit now, after coming this far but he still wondered how no one had any questions to ask. Maybe everyone else has been in a virtual reality game before except for him and maybe Hikaru. Maybe they already knew what was going to happen next.

After all of them put their helmets on and were seated comfortable in their armchairs Akira heard Seto's voice.

''Ready. Turn it on Noah!'' so the green haired boy's name was Noah….

Akira found himself in a white room and soon after him the others appeared as well one after another.

''I will explain the game now, so listen carefully because I'm not going to repeat myself'' started Seto. Akira was amazed. This boy could be more polite with his guests considering that they were the ones doing him a favor and helping him test his game, yet he was cold and calculated. ''You may have already noticed the bracelets you all have…'' Akira looked at his left hand's wrist and indeed he had a metal bracelet that kind of looked like a wrist watch with colored buttons ''…they are mini computers with a holographic projected screen. I will now explain what the buttons are for. The blue button is the card archive. Before we start I will ask each of you to build a deck. Choose carefully because you will not be able to access the card archive after the game starts. The green button is the world map. Since this is a RPG game you will have to travel in this world and defeat different monsters and opponents before you can fight the boss monster. You will be able to activate this button as soon as we enter the game world. The yellow button is your backpack. Here you will find all the collectable items and boosts that you receive or buy during the game and last but not least the red button witch shows your life. You will start with a certain amount of life points, whenever you are hit by an opponent you loose points and these points can be regenerated with collectable items. And there are also the 3000 life points you will receive at the beginning of each duel. Any questions?''

Akira definitely had questions. ''We're go players why do we need a deck of cards? And what's that about dueling?''

''You will have your chance to play go, don't worry about that but you can't expect someone to save your life all the time because you don't have a deck. This game's card archive was created to include all the Duel Monsters cards that exist and it also has an additional special archive that was created for this game only.''

''If you look in the archive you will understand what brother means'' Mokuba completed.

Akira already didn't like where this was going but it was too late to back out now. At least now he began to understand what Ryuji had meant before. He had never played Duel Monsters before. How did Seto expect him to build a deck?

Hikaru pushed the blue button and a list of cards appeared in front of him on a holographic screen. He was amazed to see how many different cards there were. There were so many options and so many powerful monsters but he remembered what Yuugi told him when he built his first deck with Yuugi's spare cards.

**Flashback**

''You shouldn't always look for strong monsters. Remember that strong monsters are hard to summon, and besides there are low leveled monsters with useful special abilities.'' Yuugi pointed out.

''But I'm never going to win against a strong monster like this'' Hikaru pouted. ''you didn't allow me to use the Egyptian god cards and now you tell me Exodia is no good either?"

"You need to have all the five Exodia cards in your hand in order to summon it, which means you won't have much of anything else. Are you sure you are ready to play a game with only one or two cards in your hand that you can actually use?'' Yuugi explained patiently.

No, of course he wasn't. He was just a beginner at this. As much fun as the game itself was Hikaru hated to build up decks. He never got right the balance between the three types of cards and especially between lower and higher leveled monsters.

**End of flashback**

He found some monsters that he found suited for his deck and he selected them but then he noticed some magic and trap cards that had go stones shapes on them.

''Touya look…'' he approached the green haired boy who was having trouble in building his deck. Hikaru pointed on his screen a trap card named The ko rule then showed Akira the cards special effect ''it says that when activated this card will not allow your opponent to attack one of your monsters, however you can attack the monster who's attack you blocked during your opponent's turn.'' So they had go related cards…was this what Seto meant when he mentioned the special card archive? This card didn't look like it was taken out of the Duel Monsters game…

Was this how they were supposed to play go in this game? With Duel Monsters cards? It was definitely not what Akira had in mind but he had no other choice so he scrolled his own archive at the go related cards and started building a deck.

The other players had already finished building their decks. Seto, Yuugi and Jonouchi had their regular decks while Ryuji had a deck resembling his Dungeon Dice Monsters preferences and Mokuba went for a Capsule Monsters related deck. Hikaru and Akira were the last to finish their deck building and as soon as they pressed the blue buttons closing the archive the white room disappeared and they found themselves on a field full of flowers not far from a forest.

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End file.
